Frozen Hearts
by Christine M. Greenleaf
Summary: A story detailing the origin of Victor Fries and his love for his wife, Nora, from the very beginnings of their relationship to a love that would never die.
1. Chapter 1

**Frozen Hearts**

"The iceman cometh!" exclaimed the Joker, as Mr. Freeze entered the Rec Room at Arkham Asylum.

"Very droll, Joker," sighed Jonathan Crane. "But I doubt you're at all familiar with the play."

"With the what now?" said Joker.

"_The Iceman Cometh _is a play by Eugene O'Neill which premiered on Broadway in 1946…ow!"

"Too much information, Professor," interrupted Joker, striking him across the back of the head. "No one likes a know-it-all. Joke's not funny if you gotta have a lot of background info to get it."

"You're the one who made the joke…" began Crane. "Ow!" he cried, as Joker punched him again. "What was that for?"

"Just for being you, Craney!" chuckled Joker, leaving the room laughing.

"How are you today, Victor?" asked Crane, glaring after Joker as he rubbed his head tenderly.

"The same as always," murmured Freeze. "My condition never changes, nor does my emotional wellbeing, if that is what you were inquiring about. My emotions are all frozen within me. They do not alter."

"Must be a blessing, in a way," replied Crane. "At least there's no pain."

"The numbness is worse than the pain," replied Freeze. "To feel anything is preferable to feeling nothing."

"I think you could debate that issue until the end of time," said Crane. "And I think many philosophers have."

"And I think none of them have ever experienced true pain," murmured Freeze. "Or true numbness. As one who has experienced both, trust me, the pain is preferable."

Crane didn't know how to respond, so he merely returned to his book. It was difficult to talk to Freeze. He never interacted with the other inmates much – his inability to exist outside freezing environments except when surrounded by his protective suit was one factor. And the other was his complete apathy for the rest of humanity in general. No one in Arkham Asylum could be considered loving, tender, affectionate people (maybe Harley Quinn, but even she enjoyed her fair share of random violence), but they all seemed to have emotions – even the Joker had his likes and dislikes. But Freeze had nothing, or at least, no emotions that he showed. His dealings with his fellow lunatics were rare by preference. He just didn't care about anyone, whether as a friend or as a foe. And unlike every other inmate, he didn't even hate Batman. He was apathetic toward him, as he was toward all things. He didn't care about anything or anyone. Except one person, and she couldn't even be called a person anymore, frozen as she was in a cryogenics tube, as cold and silent as if she were dead. But she wasn't dead. And that knowledge kept Freeze's heart beating, as slow and sluggish as it was. It was alive. She was alive.

"Time for tea, Jonathan," said Jervis Tetch, entering the room at that moment. "Oh…Victor," he stammered. "Good day to you."

"Good day, Mr. Tetch," murmured Freeze.

"Would you…ah…care to join us for tea?" asked Tetch.

"I would be unable to drink it," replied Freeze.

"Yes, well, I didn't mean to actually drink it, I just meant to…um…sit and talk with us," said Tetch.

"And why would I wish to do that?" asked Freeze.

"Well…I don't know," replied Tetch. "Only in my experience one can get terribly lonely sitting by oneself all the time…"

"You do not know the meaning of the word lonely, Mr. Tetch," murmured Freeze. "You may have lost your Alice, but you may still see her again one day. You may touch her, you may take her hand and feel the warmth of her skin, and her smile. Even when my Nora awakes, I will never feel that again. I will never feel anything again, because I am truly separated from humanity. For you to be alone is metaphorical. For me it is my reality, and my life. Forever."

"I'm…terribly sorry," stammered Tetch. "If there's anything I can do…"

"Do not waste your kindness on me, Mr. Tetch," interrupted Freeze. "It is meaningless to me. I do not feel gratitude. I do not feel anything."

Tetch nodded. "Well, good day to you, Victor."

"See you soon, Victor," said Crane, standing up and following Tetch out of the room.

Freeze sat alone in the room for some time, thinking. That was all he did these days – think about the future, and remember the past. He did not live in the present, because there was no present to him but an eternity of misery, loneliness, and cold.

He rose at last and walked back to his cell. There at least he could remove his suit. His cell was kept at subzero temperatures, and he was more comfortable unburdened by the frozen shell which encased him constantly.

As he headed down the cell block, he heard a giggle, and turned to see Harley Quinn being pressed against the bars of her cell, beaming in happiness as the Joker covered her face in kisses.

"Got a problem, Freeze?" he asked, looking up suddenly and noticing him.

"Many," retorted Freeze.

"Aw, ain't that a shame?" sighed Joker. "Well, you're welcome to stay and watch me rev up my Harley – might bring back good memories of you and the ice dame, huh? Or it might just be twisting the knife in a bit further for you to see that some of us, psychotic lunatics though we may be, can still have a woman, while you, Vicky, if I'm not mistaken, will never be able to again. That even if your wife wakes up one day, you're gonna have a pretty platonic marriage. Or things will have to be really chilly in the bedroom. And ain't that a funny thought?" he chuckled.

"Perhaps it would be. To enjoy humor, one must invest in the joke. And I do not care about anything so silly," replied Freeze.

"Nah, the only thing you care about is some frozen cold popsicle of a dame," retorted Joker. "She can't really be worth all this crap you go through for her, can she, Freeze?"

Freeze looked at him. "You have never been in love, have you, Joker?"

Joker chuckled. "Like you said, Vicky, to enjoy that kinda crap, you gotta invest in the joke. And I ain't the kinda guy to invest in silly jokes like that."

"Love ain't a joke, Mr. J," murmured Harley. "It's the most powerful thing on earth."

"Right, kid, and I'm Batman," he retorted. "Just shut your useless mouth, would ya? Or will I have to do that for you?" he chuckled, kissing her again.

"You should listen to her, Joker," replied Freeze. "She is wiser than she looks."

"Wouldn't be too hard, would it?" chuckled Joker. "Aw, she's a dumb blonde, but I love the little minx, really," he said, pinching her cheek. "So there ya go, Victor."

"You don't love her," muttered Freeze, leaving them to it. "You don't even know the meaning of that word."

He returned to his cell, shutting and securing the door, and then slowly removed his suit. "It is a weakness, love," he continued, talking to himself. "And the Joker is strong, very strong. Too strong. It does not take much to break a man. Just deprive him of his love, the one thing he needs to live. A man who loves no one is truly invincible."

He picked up the snowglobe he carried with him always, of a ballerina dancing in the snow. A ballerina with golden hair and a beautiful smile. "I am not that man," he whispered. "Perhaps I wish I could be, but I cannot. I love you too much, Nora. That is my weakness, and my only joy. The one thing that makes me feel alive again. To remember you, in all your beauty, to remember us, as we were, in happier days. In days when I could feel the sun on my face, and the taste of your kiss, and warmth…I remember what it is to feel warmth, but it is a dim memory now and will soon fade. Soon there will be only cold and ice and numbness. Nothingness. Like death."

He shut his eyes. "But I lived once," he murmured. "We lived once. And we were happy…I suppose no man can ask for more than that. But it was so short a summer, to be followed by so long a winter. A never-ending winter…for both of us."

He clutched the snowglobe tightly. "I will save you, my love," he whispered. "I swore to you…it is too late for me, but for you…there may yet be a summer. There _will _yet be a summer. And you will be alive and beautiful and warm, as you always were. So warm that you melted even my frozen heart. Well, now my heart truly is frozen, my love. And I need you to come back to me, to melt it again, to give me more than just memories. To give me life and hope and happiness, so long denied me. I would kill everyone on this earth for just a touch of your warmth once more."

He curled up in his cell, shutting his eyes tightly. "The memories…still warm me," he murmured. "But I do not know how much longer they can last against the cold. Things so precious and beautiful and delicate, like flowers, must die when the frost comes. And someday these memories too will die. But until then they will warm me. I will remember you, and remember warmth. Until I can bring you back to me."


	2. Chapter 2

The first time he saw her smile, it was like he was seeing the sun for the very first time. There was inexpressible beauty and wonder in it, joy and warmth beaming out from it and lightening the very air around her.

"Dr. Fries? I'm Dr. Nora Summers."

He shook her hand. It was so gentle, and so warm, that it seemed to flood his whole body with a sudden glow, like electricity.

"It's a…pleasure, Dr. Summers," he said. "I have read some of your research in advanced cryostasis. It is expertly argued. I had not quite envisioned you to be…as you are."

She smiled again. "No, I was told when submitting to scientific journals that it was better to use initials. That some scientists might dismiss your research if they thought it came from a woman. Which seems ridiculous to me, but then I really started to enjoy the joke of using my initials. N. Summers."

He just looked at her, slightly puzzled. "It's a pun," she explained. "N. Summers. In summers. In summers, you can swim or barbeque or…"

"Yes, that is most amusing," he interrupted, returning his attention to his work.

"It's really not, but I'll laugh at anything," she replied, shrugging. "Anyway, it's got nothing on your name. A cryogenic scientist called Fries? That's kinda funny, huh?"

"Perhaps it would be, if I hadn't heard it many times before," said Fries.

Nora was silent. "I don't assume you're one of those scientists who dismiss the research of a woman…"

"Of course not," he interrupted. "Gender has nothing to do with the capabilities of the mind. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool."

Nora smiled at him. "We're going to get along just fine," she said, putting down her bag by the lab table. She glanced at her watch. "Can I buy you lunch?" she asked.

"I'm afraid I'm rather busy at present," he replied, not looking up from his microscope.

"I just thought if we're going to be working together, it would be nice for us to get to know each other a little," she said. "Maybe talk over lunch about where we're from, what kinda research we specialize in…"

"We are both cryogenic scientists," interrupted Fries. "That is all I need to know."

"Not one for small talk, I see," said Nora. "That's fine – I'm not particularly chatty. I just like to know the people I'm gonna be spending a fair amount of time with."

He sighed heavily, looking up. "What is it you wish to know?"

"Where are you from? Originally, I mean. That accent isn't American."

"I was born in Germany."

"Whereabouts?"

"Heidelberg."

"Ah. _When it's summertime in Heidelberg, there's beauty everywhere_…you know that song?"

"No."

"It's from an operetta, _The Student Prince_. Do you like music?"

"No."

"What do you like?"

"To be able to continue with my research in peace," he said, returning his attention to the microscope.

Nora grinned. "I see," she said. "Well, I'll just go to lunch on my own and leave you to your research."

She headed for the door. "You did not tell me where you were from," he said, not looking up from his microscope.

"Kansas," she replied. "Little town you'll never have heard of. Grew up on a farm, but I was never interested in carrying on the family business of pig rearing. Pigs may look all cute, but they're vicious creatures really. And you can never get the smell out of your clothes."

"You seem to have managed it," he said. "Or else pigs smell of roses."

"I didn't wear these clothes when I was pig rearing…"

"Yes, I know," he interrupted. "It was my attempt at a joke."

Nora grinned again. "Guess I don't laugh at just anything," she replied. "And the perfume's rose and jasmine. So if you wanna know what to get me for Christmas, that's a hint."

"I am not in the habit of buying Christmas presents for my colleagues, or indeed anyone," retorted Fries. "So I would not recommend raising your expectations."

She smiled. "Are you always so serious?" she asked him.

"What else should a rational man be?" asked Fries.

"Well, if I were Dr. Victor Fries, renowned cryogenics scientist, eminently respected by my colleagues and endowed with a brilliant mind, I would think I would be a little happy about it," she retorted. "Especially since you've just gained a rather brilliant and beautiful research partner."

"I can see modesty is not one of your virtues, Dr. Summers," he said.

"Oh, Nora, please," she replied. "And I can call you Victor, can't I? Or do you shorten it? Somehow I don't see you as a Vic."

He looked up. "You may call me Dr. Fries."

She smiled at him. "I'll see you after lunch, Victor," she said, striding off.

He watched her leave, bemused and rather puzzled by her. He had read Dr. Summers research, and it was clearly the product of a very bright and intelligent mind. But in person she seemed downright frivolous. Fries was not a frivolous man himself, and he expected his colleagues to have a certain air of solemnity about them. They were engaged in ground-breaking research, after all, research which could save hundreds of lives and change the way humanity lived and died. There was nothing frivolous about it.

He was surprised by her frivolity, but he could not say he disliked it. It was unusual to see smiles in his lab. It made the whole room suddenly seem much brighter. But now that she had left, the cloud was back, enveloping him inside his mind and his work.

And then the sun broke through it again. "Brought you back some ice cream!" said Nora cheerfully, re-entering the room and handing him a small tub. He looked from it to her, and her face fell. "What's wrong? Don't you like ice cream? Everybody likes ice cream."

"Yes…thank you," he stammered. "I did not request that you bring me this, however."

"It's a gift, Victor," she replied, smiling. "Friends sometimes give each other gifts."

"And…are we friends?" he asked, surprised.

"Well, we're colleagues," she replied. "And I'd like us to be friends, if you'll let me, Victor," she said, holding out her hand.

He shook it again, thrilling once more at the warmth that consumed him at her touch. "I would like that very much, Nora."


	3. Chapter 3

"So that's Dr. Summers," murmured Dr. Gregory Belson, giving a low whistle as Nora left the room to collect some samples from the freezer. "She can do research with me anytime."

"I beg your pardon?" said Fries.

"What? She's hot," retorted Belson.

"Yes, she is like bottled sunshine," agreed Fries. "Bringing light and life and warmth wherever she goes."

"Uh…no. I mean she's…attractive," said Belson, slowly.

"Yes, she is extraordinarily beautiful," murmured Fries softly.

"You gonna ask her out?" asked Belson.

Fries looked at him. "It would be unprofessional to harrass a colleague in that way," he said. "And she could have no interest in me. She is beautiful and young and vivacious. I am none of those things."

"Yeah, they don't call you the Iceman for nothing, do they, Fries?" laughed Belson.

"Who does?" asked Fries.

"Uh…people," said Belson, slowly.

"Is that meant to be a joke about my name or my research?" asked Fries.

"Both, I think," he replied. "Anyway, would you mind passing on my number to Nora?" he asked.

Fries snorted, returning his attention to his notes. "I would not trust you with looking after my cat, Gregory, let alone my research partner."

"Why not?" asked Belson, offended.

"Because I have no wish to see Nora unhappy," he retorted. "And I sincerely doubt you are capable of making her happy."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

Fries looked up at him. "We are colleagues, Gregory, but I do not like you," he muttered. "As a human being, I find you contemptible. If you do not stay away from Nora, I will make you regret it. Do I make myself clear?"

Belson was a cowardly man by nature, and something about the tone of Fries's voice was terrifying. He nodded slowly. "Yeah…ok."

He headed toward the door, and then turned back. "But frankly I think you're just jealous. If you're not gonna ask her out, at least let the rest of us have a shot."

"Who said Victor's not going to ask me out?" said Nora, entering the room at that moment.

"He just did," retorted Belson. "Said it would be unprofessional to harrass a colleague in that way."

Nora grinned. "It would only be harrassment if I said no. And I haven't said no, have I, Victor?" she said, smiling at him.

For the first time that he could remember, Fries was lost for words. He could also feel a strange heat rising to his face. "Is that Dr. Victor Fries blushing?" asked Nora, grinning. "Guess he isn't a total Iceman after all, huh, Greg?" she asked, turning to Belson.

Belson muttered something incomprehensible and left the room. "You…must not indulge Gregory in his foolishness," muttered Fries. "Nor encourage him in thinking that we are more than just colleagues."

"I don't think I did," she replied. "I think I just told him the truth. I haven't said no to you."

"I have not asked you on a date," he replied.

"Yep. Maybe you should fix that," she said, nodding.

He stared at her. "You…would not wish to go out with me, surely?"

"You haven't asked," she retorted. "Never know until you try, Victor. I thought you were a scientist."

He continued to stare at her, and felt the blush getting worse. He had never blushed in his life before, but this woman seemed to be able to spread warmth everywhere, even to his face. "Um…would you be interested in going on a date with me?"

"Sure," she said. "Where?"

"I…do not know. I have never been on a date before," he replied. "Where would you like to go?"

She shrugged. "Anywhere fun. The movies, the theatre…oh, there's a ballet on at the moment at the Grand! _Coppelia_, one of my favorites! I danced Swanhilde in an amateur production a few years back."

"You are…a dancer?" he asked.

She grinned. "I do ballet. But amateur, like I said. Do you like ballet?"

"I have…never attended a performance," he said, slowly.

"You don't know what you're missing," she replied. "Well, that sounds like a plan to me, Victor. You wanna pick me up after rehearsal tomorrow night? I finish at seven – here's the address," she said, writing it down for him.

He took the paper from her slowly. "Nora, I…don't understand. Why would you wish to go anywhere with me? We are colleagues, but it is not mandatory that we see each other outside of office hours."

"You're really having a hard time with the whole friend idea, aren't you, Victor?" she asked, grinning. "Friends sometimes hang out after work."

"Friends do not tend to go to the ballet together," he said, slowly. "They do not tend to go…on dates together."

She smiled. "No," she said. "They don't."

She handed him one of the samples she had brought. "And now that that's settled, let's get back to work. They don't pay us to chit-chat, Victor. And Mr. Boyle will be so disappointed if this research isn't ready for the inspection at the end of the month."

"But Nora…"

"Work now, chat later, Victor," she interrupted. "I thought you weren't the chatty type anyway. Guess you're full of surprises."

He smiled. "So are you, Nora."

"Goodness, a smile!" she exclaimed, in mock astonishment. "I'm probably the first person in the world to see Dr. Victor Fries smile."

"And it is entirely possible you will be the only one," he retorted.

She grinned. "Fine with me," she replied. "As long as you do it more often. It's nice."

"I do not think I have strong enough facial muscles to smile as constantly as you do," he replied. "Are you ever unhappy, Nora?"

"Sure I am," she said.

"It does not seem so."

She smiled again. "Just because I smile doesn't mean I'm happy, Victor," she replied. "You learn that when you're a performer – your calves may feel like they're breaking from the strain you're putting on them, but you always gotta smile for the audience. Anyway, it takes more facial muscles to frown than smile, so yours have gotta be in pretty good shape. About time you gave them a break, don't you think?" she asked, grinning.

Fries didn't respond, except to smile gently at her again and return his attention to his work. He didn't stop smiling for the rest of the day.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, how did you like _Coppelia_, Victor?" asked Nora as they left the theater together. "Think it'll be your first ballet of many?"

Fries was silent. "I thought you said it was a comedy, Nora," he said.

"It is," she insisted. "A comedy is any drama that has a happy ending."

"It did not have a happy ending," he replied.

"Sure it did," she said. "The two young lovers were reconciled and married…"

"But what about the poor doctor?" asked Fries. "He was so desperately in love with this doll he created that he was willing to sacrifice a human soul to bring her to life. And then when he thinks he has succeeded, when the cup of happiness is at his lips, he discovers that it is all a cruel prank, and she was never alive at all. And his recompense is a bag of money? What good is money to him when his heart is breaking? He will never have his love. It is an incredibly tragic story."

Nora looked at him, and sighed heavily. "Well, that's ruined that ballet for me," she muttered.

"I am sorry…" he began.

"No, you're right, Victor," she said. "I just never thought about it that way before." She grinned. "You have a very gloomy personality, you know that? Forget the Iceman, I'm going to start calling you the Raincloud."

Fries was silent. "That was a joke," she said, threading her hand through his arm as they walked.

"The…experience was an enjoyable one," he said, trying to ignore the warmth spreading to his face again.

"You seemed distracted through a lot of it," she replied.

"Yes, I…I was," he stammered. He couldn't tell her that he had been distracted from the ballet by her face. But he had never seen such happiness beaming out from anyone's eyes as Nora's did while she had watched the production. And he was drawn toward her happiness, like flowers toward the sun.

"Well, you'd better take me home," she said as they reached his car. "Unless you want to go to your place for a drink first."

"Do…you?" he stammered, surprised.

"I just suggested it, didn't I, Victor?" she said, grinning as she climbed into the passenger seat.

Fries unlocked the door to his apartment and held it open for her. "Fan of minimalism, I see," she said, nodding as she looked around the scantily furnished room.

A soft miaowing made her look down, to see a cat appearing out of the shadows and rubbing itself against her legs. "Aw, hi, sweetie," she said, bending down to pet it. "I didn't think of you as an animal person, Victor."

"I am full of surprises, like you said," he replied. "This is Gretchen."

"Unusual name," said Nora, as the cat began purring.

"It is from Goethe's _Faust_," he explained. "Gretchen was seduced by Faust, but saved from damnation at the end of the play. Just as…this Gretchen was."

"What did she do to deserve damnation?" asked Nora, grinning.

"I found her dying in the street," replied Fries. "She had been run over, and lost a lot of blood. Too much to live long. So I…froze her."

Nora stared at him. "You froze her?" she repeated.

"Yes," he said. "I kept her in cryostasis until I could do a blood transfusion, and then I revived her. And as you can see, she is none the worse for wear."

The cat miaowed again, moving to rub affectionately against Fries's legs. "I have always been fascinated by the ability to freeze, the ability to slow time and possibly…cheat death," murmured Fries as he stroked the cat gently. "When I was a boy, I tried to freeze my pets to prolong their lives, until my…parents discovered what I was doing. They put a stop to that very quickly. And then they sent me away, to a…correctional facility for troubled children. I think they were hoping that with enough pain, they could beat the desire for knowledge out of me. They failed. "

He entered the kitchen with Gretchen following him. Nora stood in the doorway, watching him as he poured two drinks. "I'm sorry," she murmured, softly.

"Do not be – it was not your fault," he retorted. "And I did not stay there long. I ran away, left the country, started a new life here in Gotham. But I have never forgotten the penalty for being different. Nor the extreme cruelty of ignorant people in the face of the unknown."

He handed her a drink. "You wondered why I do not often smile. I have not had a reason to for a very long time," he said. "You have changed all that, Nora. I thank you."

She beamed. "Well, let's drink to your smile, Victor," she said, raising her glass.

"Let us drink to my reason," he murmured, nodding at her.

They drank in silence. "And now that we have had our drink, perhaps I should take you home," he said. "We both have an early start tomorrow."

She nodded. "Would you like to…do this again sometime?" she asked slowly.

"Yes," he said, firmly. "I would like that very much."

He pulled up the car in front of her apartment. "I had a wonderful time tonight, Victor," she said, smiling at him as she opened the door. "Thank you."

He caught her hand. "Nora…will you answer me one question? It is something I have been thinking about for a long time."

"Sure," she said.

He looked at her. "I do not understand…why you work with ice," he murmured. "When everything about you is warm and alive. It seems nonsensical to me that you should devote yourself to something cold and static. It is so unlike you."

She grinned. "Maybe that's why I love it," she murmured.

Then she leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on his lips. "Goodnight, Victor," she whispered.

"Goodnight…Nora," he stammered. He watched her as she entered her apartment complex, turning to smile and wave at him before she shut the door.

He drove home in a daze. His entire body was flushed and reeling from the kiss. He had never experienced anything so electric, and he suddenly felt as if he were truly alive. He had always thought of his heart as a frozen entity, frozen by the coldness and cruelty of humanity. But now he could feel it beating, loud and strong. In an odd reversal of roles, he felt almost like Sleeping Beauty awakening from a death sleep by the kiss of true love. Fries had never been a man who believed in the morals of fairy tales, for fairy tales claimed the good ended happily and the wicked were punished. That had never been his experience of life.

But for the first time, he began to hope that was about to change.


	5. Chapter 5

"You don't dance, do you, Victor?" asked Nora, suddenly.

They were sitting in a park in the sun. He had been watching her make a daisy chain, his fingers entwined in her golden hair and stroking it lovingly as she leaned against his shoulder. He was never happier than when he was near her, and watching her smile. The sun itself wasn't warmer than that. "Dance?" he repeated. "No, I cannot say that I…"

"I didn't think so," she interrupted, smiling. "I was just trying to think of something fun to do for our date this weekend, and there's a new club opening downtown. But I'm not about to go there and dance by myself. People might think I'm single or something."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. "Want me to teach you?" she asked.

"Teach me what?" he said, surprised.

"To dance," she replied.

"I cannot see why it would ever be a particularly beneficial skill to have," he said.

She grinned. "Because it would make your girlfriend very happy, Mr. Raincloud, if we could occasionally go dancing. Come on, it's easy. I'll show you," she said, throwing down the daisy chain and standing up, holding out her hands to him.

He stared at her. "We cannot dance here…"

"Why not?" she asked.

"It is a public space…"

"So's the club, Victor."

"But people will stare at us…"

"Let them," she retorted, shrugging. "They're just jealous they're not having as much fun as we are. Now come on, Victor."

"Nora, I don't…"

But she put a hand to his lips, smiling at him. "Just hold me," she whispered.

He obeyed, pressing her against him and thrilling at the feel of her next to him. He kissed her hair and then rested his cheek against the top of her head, shutting his eyes.

"You have to move, Victor," she murmured.

"No," he retorted, stubbornly. "I don't want to move. I just want to stand with you like this forever. If I could freeze both of us together like this for eternity, I would be the happiest of men."

"I would be cold," she said.

He smiled, and kissed her tenderly. "Oh, Victor," she sighed. "If you don't wanna learn, how are you ever gonna dance at our wedding?"

He stared at her. "Our…wedding?" he repeated.

She grinned. "Sorry, have I ruined the surprise? Weren't you planning on proposing to me at some point?"

"I had not dared hoped that…I mean, I had not begun to think…I mean…you want to marry me, Nora?"

She smiled. "You haven't asked me, Victor," she murmured. "You never know until you try."

"But…but I have not prepared…I do not have a ring…"

She bent down and picked up the daisy chain. "You'll have to improvise," she said, handing it to him. "Unless you don't wanna ask me…"

He took the daisy chain from her and placed it around her neck. "I have never met someone as alive as you, Nora," he whispered.

She grinned. "Hang out with a lot of zombies, do you, Victor?"

"Yes," he murmured. "Everyone seems like the walking dead compared to you, compared with your vibrancy and joy. I myself did not feel alive until you came into my life. And now I feel…if you ever left me, I would die. Or perhaps worse, I would be one of the walking dead. Walking, breathing, living, but not alive, Nora. Surely there is no worse fate than being alive when your heart is missing, when the very reason for your existence is gone. And I could never live without the woman who has brought sunshine into my life. I want to ask if you'll never leave me, Nora. If you will truly make me the happiest of men…and agree to become my wife."

"This is such a surprise, Victor," she replied, smiling. "I really hadn't expected it, out of a clear blue sky like this."

She pretended to consider. "It would be very confusing at work, you know," she said. "If Mr. Boyle asked for Dr. Fries, and we both came running. There is that to consider."

"You could…keep your name, if you like…" began Fries, but Nora laughed suddenly.

"You never can tell when I'm joking, can you, Victor?" she giggled. "Well, I guess you'll have plenty of time to figure it out," she murmured, sliding her arms around his neck. "My answer's yes, Victor."

"You are…not joking about that?" he asked.

She grinned. "Nah uh," she whispered, kissing him tenderly.

"I'm also not joking about you learning how to dance," she continued as she drew away. "You're going to need to learn for the wedding anyway, so just get used to it."

"My love, if you wanted me to, now I could fly," he murmured, kissing her again.

"Let's start with the dancing," she murmured, smiling.

People did stare at them, but neither one of them cared, smiling and laughing together as they danced and spun all over the park. Fries thought the sun shone brighter on Nora, giving her an angelic glow, and he remembered the sight of the daisies strewn in her hair and around her neck, as if they belonged there. As if they had come from her, like all things bright and beautiful. It had been the most perfect day of his life.

Until his wedding. Nora had never looked more beautiful dressed in a simple white gown, nothing too fancy, she had told him, for a farmer's daughter from Kansas. The simplicity only served to make her even more stunning, and when he held her in his arms and danced with her at the reception, it was almost unbelievable to him that this precious angel was his wife.

"Do you think Gretchen will mind me moving in?" asked Nora as he carried her over the threshold to his apartment that night.

"I think she will be overjoyed, as I am," he replied, kissing her.

"She doesn't appear to be home," said Nora, looking around. "Guess she wanted to give us a little privacy on our wedding night. She's a very considerate cat."

"I have taught her proper manners, of course," said Fries, nodding.

She grinned. "You _can _joke, Dr. Fries," she murmured, kissing him.

"I learned from the best, Dr. Fries," he whispered.

"That is going to be confusing," she sighed. "I doubt Greg will be able to cope with it. If someone says Dr. Fries is coming, he won't know whether to try to chat them up or disappear as quickly as possible."

"He had best run in fear if he intends to harrass my wife," retorted Fries. "I will kill him."

Nora laughed. "You look so serious, Victor!"

"I am being serious," he retorted.

Nora studied him. "You would kill someone for me?" she murmured, quietly.

"Yes," he replied, firmly. "I would kill everyone for you, if I had to."

Nora grinned. "Guess that's you trying to be romantic, huh, Victor?" she asked.

"That is me being truthful," he retorted. "You are the only person in this world worth anything to me. The rest of humanity can burn for all I care."

"Hmm, burning's not really your style," she murmured, kissing him tenderly and smiling. "Freezing's much more your thing."

"I would do whatever you asked of me, Nora," he whispered.

She touched his face gently. "Then smile," she murmured. "Be happy. I think you should be, tonight of all nights."

"I am happy," he murmured. "Tonight and every night after. You are my wife. I will never be unhappy again with that knowledge."

She grinned. "I'll hold you to that, Victor," she said. "Now let's go to bed."


	6. Chapter 6

"Nora, you're up early," said Fries, opening the door to the living room to see Nora looking out the window at the snow, Gretchen purring in her lap. She tilted her face up for his kiss, beaming.

"Merry Christmas, my love," he whispered.

"Mmm, merry Christmas, Victor," she murmured, as she cuddled against his chest. "And I'm always up early on days when it snows. I love the snow."

"It is beautiful," he agreed. "Not as beautiful as you, of course."

She grinned and kissed him again. "I didn't get much sleep last night, actually," she murmured. "Too excited."

"About Christmas?" he asked. "I fear my present doesn't warrant such excitement."

He handed her a small envelope. She opened it and pulled out two tickets. Her eyes widened in surprise. "These are for the Bolshoi ballet," she murmured. "In Moscow."

"Yes," he murmured. "The flight is booked for next month. And I have already requested the leave from Gothcorp for both of us."

She beamed at him. "Victor, you're an angel!" she exclaimed, kissing him. "But I really don't think we can go. I don't think I'll be able to fly in a month."

"Why is that?" he asked, puzzled.

She smiled. "Open my present first," she murmured, handing him a box.

He unwrapped it to reveal a snowglobe, featuring a ballerina with golden hair dancing inside it. "Read the inscription," she murmured, nodding underneath it.

"_To Victor, so you'll always remember how I once looked. All my love forever, Nora._" He looked up at her, puzzled. "Nora, my love, I don't understand. You are not planning on changing the way you look, are you?"

"No, I hadn't planned on it," she agreed, nodding. "But it'll be really hard to keep the whole ballerina figure once I put on lots of weight. I don't know if I'll ever get it back, but I guess it's worth it, for you. Since it's going to bring us both so much happiness," she murmured, kissing him.

"What are you…talking about?" he asked, slowly.

She grinned. "I really do have to spell it out for you, don't I, Victor?" she sighed. "I thought you were meant to be smart." She took his hand, and placed it on her stomach. "Victor…I'm going to have a baby," she whispered.

He stared at her. "A…baby?" he repeated.

She nodded, beaming. "Isn't it wonderful?" she murmured.

"A…baby," he repeated, the realization slowly sinking in. "A baby. Oh, Nora!" he exclaimed, seizing her in his arms and kissing her passionately. "Nora, that's wonderful! But…but when are you…"

"Not for several more months," she said. "It's only been about six weeks. I'll begin to show soon," she murmured, rubbing her belly. "But you can see why we can't possibly go to Russia, Victor. I'm going to be one of those incredibly paranoid and demanding pregnant women who refuse to leave the house and make their husbands do everything. So I hope you're prepared for that," she added, grinning.

"Oh…Nora!" he gasped, kissing her again. "This is the best Christmas present any man could ever be given! A baby of our very own…"

"A little Fries," she said, smiling. "We should call it the Icicle until we settle on a name."

He kissed her. "Do you need anything?" he asked. "Are you warm enough? Can I get you…"

"I'm the paranoid one, remember, Victor?" she interrupted. "You calm down. The Icicle and me are just fine for the moment, enjoying our first Christmas together as a family."

She snuggled against him as Gretchen purred contentedly on her lap. "Actually, there is something you can do," she murmured.

"Anything, my angel," he breathed.

"I'm just feeling a little tired," she whispered. "Stayed up because I was excited, like I said," she murmured, yawning. "So can you carry me to the door? I wanna go out in the snow."

"Are you sure it's wise, in your condition, my love…" he began.

"Victor, I'm not going to die from a little snow," she retorted. "Just do what I say."

He picked her up gently and carried her down the stairs. He opened the door and stood in the snow as she leaned gently against his chest, smiling as the snow clung to her hair and melted against her face.

"You asked me once why I loved ice, Victor," she murmured. "It's the same reason I love the snow. It looks cold and grey when you first see it, but take a closer look," she murmured, holding out her hand and catching a snowflake, which she held up to him. "It has a beauty all its own. A uniqueness, and a complexity, that nothing else in nature can match. I love flowers, but they all look very much the same. Every snowflake is different. That's why I love the snow. That's why I love you, Victor," she whispered. "In a world of people who are all very much the same, you're different. You seem cold and serious on the outside, but inside you're sweet and warm and loving. And unique. My Victor Fries," she whispered, shutting her eyes. "My husband. My baby's father."

"You were made to be a mother, Nora," he whispered. "You're so alive and warm and beautiful – it's only right that a new life comes from you. A life full of hope and wonder. A life I will protect, so it will never experience the misery of my own childhood. A life I will love as much as I love yours."

He took her hand. "Are you cold?" he asked, realizing how chilled it was.

"A little," she murmured. "You can take me inside if you wanna."

He obeyed, tucking her into bed and climbing in after her. He held her in his arms as she shut her eyes, and soon fell asleep. He remained awake, watching the snow falling by the window and thinking it had never looked so beautiful.


	7. Chapter 7

The snow had begun to thaw, but spring would never come. For a brief time there was a hint of life, a few small flowers had dared to peer out from under the blanket of white, but they were crushed by a bitter cold snap, swift and sudden and deadly.

Fries had awoken early to fix Nora something warm for breakfast, when he suddenly heard her scream from the bedroom. He rushed in to see blood everywhere, staining the sheets, covering Nora's white nightdress, and her hands as she clutched at her stomach, screaming and sobbing in pain.

Time was a blur after that. He remembered an ambulance ride, and then a sterile room in the hospital, and then being told to wait outside, in another blank, white, sterile room. Minutes or hours may have passed as he just stared at the wall, trying not to think about Nora's pain. It would be too much for him to bear if he thought about it.

It may have been hours later when a doctor approached him. "Dr. Fries?" he asked.

"How is my wife?" he murmured.

The doctor just looked at him. "Come into my office, please," he murmured, holding open a door.

"Please sit down," he said. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"How is my wife?" repeated Fries.

The doctor looked down. "She's…um…suffered a miscarriage," he murmured.

Fries dropped his head into his hands. "My poor Nora," he whispered.

"That's not all, Dr. Fries," continued the doctor, softly. "The miscarriage was the result of…a tumor."

Fries looked up at him in horror. "A…benign one?" he stammered.

The doctor shook his head slowly.

"Can you remove it?" asked Fries.

He shook his head again. "I'm afraid not. It's too close to a vital artery - to operate on it could kill her. And the cancer is already in its advanced stages."

Fries stared at him. "What are you saying?" he whispered.

"I'm saying that…it's terminal," he murmured. "We estimate she's got about six months."

Fries gazed at him, not comprehending. The doctor lay a hand on his shoulder. "I'm…truly sorry."

"Will you…do me a favor, doctor?" asked Fries, slowly.

The doctor nodded. "Anything I can do to help."

"Will you allow me to…tell Nora the news personally?" he asked. "I think she would prefer to hear it from me."

"Yes, of course," he replied. "You may see her now, if you like."

He followed the doctor into Nora's room, where he left them, shutting the door. Nora was staring out the window, her normally bright eyes faded and red from the tears which still streamed down her face.

"My love?" he whispered.

She turned and looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry, Victor," she whispered. "I lost our baby."

She burst into tears again, and he rushed to hold her, shushing her gently and stroking her hair back from her face as he kissed her tenderly. "Shh, now, my love, don't cry," he whispered. "It is so wrong seeing you cry. You must always be happy. Your smile is like the sun, and you must not be so cruel as to take my sun away from me."

She gave him a small smile, but kept crying. "I'm so glad you're here, Victor," she whispered. "You're so sweet, and you take such good care of me."

"I will always be here, my love," he whispered. "And I will always take care of you."

He kissed her. "The doctors want you to remain in the hospital for a little while," he murmured. "But I will come see you every day. And very soon I will take you home. Gretchen will be missing you terribly, after all."

She smiled again, touching his face, and then frowned. "Is something else wrong?" she asked.

"Why do you say that, my love?" he whispered.

"Your eyes," she murmured. "They look sad, and…something else. Desperate."

"I am sad to see you in pain, my love," he murmured. "I am desperate for you not to be. I am sad for the loss of our child. But one day, I promise you, we will have another. I said you were made to be a mother, Nora. And I am a very smart man, you are always saying so. I cannot be wrong."

"I never said you were always right, Victor," she replied, managing a grin. "What kind of boring marriage would we have if I admitted that?"

He forced a smile. "You see, you are already back to your usual, happy, joking self. You will be better in no time."

He kissed her tenderly. "Rest now and recover your strength, my love. I will see you soon."

He shut the door to her room and left the hospital. He managed to hold himself together on the drive home, but the moment he entered their apartment, he suddenly broke down in tears. Gretchen came to nuzzle against him, purring, and he petted her softly, trying to stop crying.

"She was too alive, Gretchen," he whispered, as the tears trailed down his face. "She had to burn out sometime. Too alive and too beautiful for this cold, cruel world."

The cat miaowed. "But I can save her," he whispered. "I can stop her from burning out. I will not let it happen. I will freeze her, just as she is, in all her radiance and beauty, until a cure can be found. I did it for you, and I have merely to modify the process for a human subject. It will not take too long – a few weeks at most. Nora will never have to know she is…dying. She will never have to know until she wakes up in the future, cured and alive once more. She will sleep peacefully until then."

He picked up their wedding photo and gently touched her beaming face, so full of light and happiness. "My Sleeping Beauty," he whispered. "Who will rest until I awaken her with a warm kiss, one day far away."


	8. Chapter 8

Fries worked like a madman. He didn't sleep, he didn't eat, and he didn't leave the lab in the basement of Gothcorp. He had kept the project a total secret from everyone who worked there, diverting the funds he had been granted for other research to buy the materials he needed, and using Nora's illness as an excuse to avoid his day job, and then sneaking into the lab at night and working constantly until exhaustion overcame him.

Once the machine was ready, Fries took Nora home from the hospital, promising the doctors that he would return her for regular appointments so that they could monitor the progress of her cancer. She still looked and felt very weak, and it broke Fries's heart to see it. She slept a great deal, but Fries tried to enjoy the limited time he had left before he had to say goodbye to her for an indefinite amount of time.

And then one night he gave her a sedative, and snuck her into the lab. He worked quickly, laying her down in the cryogenics tube and then setting the temperature controls. He went back over to her sleeping form and was about to shut the lid, sealing off the tube forever, when she suddenly stirred and murmured, "Victor?"

She opened her eyes slowly, looking at him and then around the room. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

"What I have to," he replied. "To save you."

"Save me?" she repeated, confused.

"I…I didn't want you to know," he stammered, feeling tears come to his eyes. He took her hand in his. "Nora, you are dying. You have terminal cancer, and less than six months to live. But I won't let it happen, Nora. I have the power to stop it, and I will. I will save you, just as I saved Gretchen. I will keep you frozen until a cure can be found."

"And you weren't going to tell me?" she murmured. "You just wanted me to wake up one day far in the future, when everything would be different? Time would have passed, but I wouldn't have realized it. Everything would have changed. You would be older, you might be dead…and you think that would be less scary to me than dying?"

"I…I couldn't bear for it to happen, Nora," he whispered. "I would rather live with the hope that one day I will see you again, than the knowledge that you are lost to me forever. That knowledge would destroy me. Please, my love, you have to let me save you. For my own sake, and yours. You cannot ask me to watch your slow, inevitable decline without being allowed to save you from it. I would…go mad."

She smiled gently. "You've always been crazy, Victor," she whispered. "This is all madness, you know," she said, looking around at the machine. "Or genius. But I guess it's pretty flattering to be the inspiration for both."

She clutched his hand tightly, tears coming to her own eyes. "I'm scared, Victor," she whispered. "What if you're not here when I wake up?"

"I will be, my love," he murmured. "I swear it."

"You swear I…_will_ wake up?" she whispered.

"Yes," he replied. "The freezing process is very straightforward, as is the thawing process. There is no reason why it should…fail now."

She nodded slowly. "I trust you, Victor."

They held hands in silence for some minutes. Fries savored the warmth of her touch, not knowing when he was going to feel it again. "I'm going to miss you so much," she whispered.

"No, it is I who will miss you, my love," he murmured. "You will be asleep. You will not realize the passing of time. You will only dream peacefully."

"A dream I can never wake up from," she whispered. "What if I have nightmares, Victor?"

"That would scientifically impossible, my love," he whispered. "I have programmed the machine while you are in stasis to bombard the brain with positive images and sounds. You will only have pleasant dreams."

She smiled. "You think of everything, don't you, Victor?" she asked.

"I think only of you, my love," he murmured.

She grinned. "Are you always so serious?" she whispered.

He choked on a mixture of a laugh and a sob, and bent down to kiss her gently, savoring the warmth of her kiss and the touch of her lips.

"I love you, Victor," she whispered.

"And I love you, Nora," he said. "No matter how much time has passed when you wake up, that will never change."

Tears streamed down her face and he gently wiped them away. "You would not want to have frozen tears on your beautiful face, would you, my love?" he whispered. "You would want me to see you happy."

"I'll try to keep smiling," she murmured. "So I can still be your sunshine. I guess frozen sunshine is better than nothing," she added with a grin.

He kissed her again. "Goodbye, Nora," he murmured.

"Goodbye, Victor," she said, smiling at him.

He shut the lid to the tube. She gazed at him and then breathed on the glass, tracing a heart with her finger and pointing at him. He touched it, crying silently, and watched as she shut her eyes and smiled. Then he pulled a switch, flooding the chamber with steam.

When the fog cleared, Nora lay still and frozen in the tube. The ice glinted on her pale skin, and her smile remained. Fries checked the vital signs within the chamber – they were strong. She was alive.

He let out a sigh of relief, gazing at her. "Until we meet again, my love," he murmured, breathing on the glass and tracing a heart around her face.


	9. Chapter 9

The accident occurred shortly after that. The lab was discovered, Ferris Boyle ordered the experiment shut down, and when Fries tried to protest, he was knocked into a table full of chemicals which reacted with his body.

At first the cold hurt, with a burning, unendurable pain. And then the numbness took over, so that he felt nothing. Nothing but relief when he realized that Nora was still safe and alive in the cryogenics tube. But neither of them were safe at Gothcorp anymore.

It was only once he returned to his apartment to collect what few possessions he valued before moving to a different location, a warehouse somewhere, where he could be with Nora, that he realized the true effect the chemicals had had on him. The room where the accident occurred had been frozen solid, and the night was a cold one, with temperatures well below freezing. When he entered the warmth of his apartment, he felt a burning kind of agony, and his heart began to seize up. Sweat poured off him as he hurried to open every window in the place, but it was only when he emerged onto the balcony that he began to feel steady again. The snow blew around him as he stood in the darkness, realizing that he was not the slightest bit cold. And realizing that returning inside was more than he could bear.

He sat down slowly, burying his face in his hands and trying to think. He heard a miaow and looked up as Gretchen emerged from inside, and came over to rub against him. She instantly jumped back, hissing in pain at his touch. His worst fears were confirmed in that instant.

Gretchen miaowed in confusion, but dared not approach him again. "Go," he whispered. "You can no longer be near me. No…living thing can be near me anymore."

The realization overwhelmed him, and he felt tears come to his eyes, but they froze before he could shed them. "If it must be…so be it," he murmured. "I will let every living thing feel my pain. I will let every living thing know what it is to feel the icy hand of vengeance, for myself, and for Nora. And I will save her. I will do whatever I must to save her. Even if it is too late for us, it will not be too late for her. She is the one spot of warmth in my otherwise frozen heart."

Gretchen just stared at him. "I said go!" he shouted.

The cat miaowed again but did not obey him. He seized it and it began hissing as the iciness of his touch began to burn it. Fries held the cat until it stopped struggling, until it gazed up at him with glassy eyes, frozen solid just like everything he had ever loved. "I must be alone," he whispered, dropping the cat to the ground where it shattered. "Now and forever."

Freeze only removed one thing from his apartment – the snowglobe Nora had given him. Then he transported them both to a warehouse which was not heated, providing the icy temperatures he needed to survive. He worked quickly, stealing the remaining materials he had left at Gothcorp to build himself a suit capable of encasing his body in a constantly freezing temperature, and equipping himself with a gun that would shoot ice in order to freeze his targets. He had nothing left but the cold and the ice now. And he needed money to continue his experiments to help Nora. So he got that money by any methods necessary. These methods were never legal, and it was only a matter of time before he encountered Batman, as Freeze was seeking revenge on Ferris Boyle for turning him into the monster that he was. It was the first of many encounters, which usually ended where Freeze was now – Arkham Asylum.

Freeze opened his eyes, still clutching the snowglobe tightly. Those were all the memories he had left now. Much time had passed since the accident, but nothing had changed for Nora. She remained encased in the cryogenics tube, alive and asleep, waiting for her cure.

As for Freeze, the more time passed, the colder his world grew. And the cold killed everything. The ice wrapped him in total numbness, and even his heart, which beat only for Nora, began to grow colder. It was why he was desperate to remember her. It was why he always kept the snowglobe with him, and constantly carved ice sculptures of her face, of her dancing, of the two of them dancing together. It was his last hope, his desperate struggle against the cold which threatened to consume everything, which threatened to destroy even his memories of warmth. And that was Freeze's deepest fear, second only to losing Nora – forgetting Nora. Forgetting what it felt like to be loved by her. Forgetting what love felt like at all. Becoming frozen solid, both inside and out. Losing the last vestiges of his humanity to the ice. He could feel it threatening to creep over his heart every day, and every day he had to fight back against it. He had to keep reminding himself of things like warmth and love. The ice seemed to consume them all. He didn't know how much longer he could fight the cold. It always seemed to win.

He could only fight for Nora. He could not fight for anyone else. He was cold and distant toward the rest of humanity because he had to be. Because if he started caring for anyone but her, he would lose the battle. He did not have the strength to fight a war on more than one front, not when the enemy was so pressing and so constant. And he had never much cared for humanity. Cold, cruel, and heartless, the entire race. All except Nora. She was the only thing worth fighting the cold for. One beautiful, delicate, frail flower in a world of ice. One living creature among the walking dead.

"I will find a cure, my love," he whispered. "I will save you. One day, I swear it."

He curled up again, holding the snowglobe next to his heart. "But there is no cure now," he murmured. "And until there is, Nora must sleep. And wait. I wish you only pleasant dreams, my love. For me, there is no waking from the nightmare of my reality."

He looked out the window before shutting his eyes to sleep. It was snowing again. It was always snowing. Spring was a distant memory. And memories did not last long in the frost.

**The End**


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